Service offer

We provide free, confidential, impartial advice and support to parent carers, children and young people aged 0-25 in relation to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) who live in Trafford. Our service offer includes:

Telephone Helpline

The helpline is open between 9am and 12pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank holidays) and offers same day information and advice. Outside of these hours messages can be left on the service’s answer machine; we aim to respond to these enquiries within 3 working days*.

To enable fair access to all who contact the service, helpline calls may be limited to 20 minutes; if further telephone support is required after this time a call back appointment will be scheduled. Video calls are also available.

* We aim to respond to all enquiries within 3 working days; however, this may be extended during periods of high demand.

Online/email contact

Contact can also be made by the contact form or by email - sendiass@trafford.gov.uk. We aim to respond to these types of enquiries within 3 working days We aim to respond to all enquiries within 3 working days; however, this may be extended during periods of high demand.

Website

The website provides information and advice as well as links to other useful support services and the Local Offer. 

Social Media

Our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) provide up to date information about services, and also events that are happening locally and nationally.

SEND Paperwork

We offer support to review SEND documents or complete SEND paperwork. We will schedule an appointment that is convenient to the enquirer and the service (most cases will be offered a telephone or video call appointment).

Support

Support is available. Our objective is that as many parent carers, children, and young people as possible will be provided with telephone/email/video call advice and guidance and be able to access the information they need to represent themselves. We are a small team and capacity is limited so we will prioritise, in the first instance, issues which are time sensitive such as exclusions, tribunals, or admissions. We may need to use the following criteria:

Parents with additional needs of their own.

Review meetings where:

  • the placement is at risk
  • the child or young person is not in education
  • it is a phased transfer and there is uncertainty re next placement
  • the child has multiple or complex needs and parents are struggling to engage support or necessary services
  • it is a complex situation, may be at risk of going to the SEND Tribunal
  • following a SEND Tribunal decision there are on-going issues re implementation or delivery of the ruling
  • risk of exclusion

Other situations as determined by and at the discretion of the SENDIASS manager as warranting face to face support.

Home visits

Wherever possible we will use online platforms (video call) such as Teams or Zoom to meet with parent carers, children, or young people instead of visiting the home. However, we are aware that not everyone has the technology or the ability to meet using online platforms and will offer a home visit to those in need if other meeting places are not suitable.

Other sources of support

Contact

Parents and carers can also call the free Contact helpline. It is open between the hours of 9.30am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

The Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA)

The Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA) offer a call-in telephone helpline which is open every Friday from 9:30am -3pm. They provide legally based next step advice on any educational issue that is a result of a child or young person’s SEND. Further support services and sources of information can also be found on Trafford’s Local Offer pages.